In a shameful mishap for the U.S. government, the Census Bureau knowingly hired a registered sex offender with a long criminal history to make home visits even though such convicts are precluded from working for the agency.

The embarrassing gaffe came to light when a young mother in a New Jersey suburb recognized the census worker who came to her home from the state’s registered sex offender database. She initially thought it was safe to provide the man with information because he was a legit U.S. Census Bureau worker with a badge and bag sporting the agency’s official logo.

The woman, who got the census visit because she had misplaced her survey, provided the worker with names and birthdates for members of her family. She was also asked whether she and her husband rented or owned the home in Pennsauken, a town of about 35,000 residents. Throughout the visit, the woman was certain the census official’s face looked familiar.

Toward the end of the interview, she recognized the census worker from New Jersey’s sex-offender internet registry. She even remembered his numerous aliases and notified police. The sex offender immediately got arrested and charged with false representation and impersonating a public official.

Here’s the best part: The sex offender passed a name check because he used a fake name (Jamie Shepard) to get the census job, but he failed a fingerprint check after getting hired in late April. He was still allowed to complete four days of training and allowed to visit homes even though agency officials confirm that he didn’t pass the background check.

If this isn’t pure insanity what is? It’s not like the felon totally fooled the government, which would have been bad enough. Officials knew he didn’t pass the background check yet they sent him to the homes of unsuspecting residents in the region.

The Census Bureau has been plagued by several other scandals in recent months, including its implementation of a costly advertising campaign catering to illegal immigrants. More than $338 million has gone to promote the census with a mass public relations campaign geared largely at assuring illegal aliens that they wont’ be reported to authorities if they answer questionnaires. Additionally, $26 million has been spent to send Spanish-language questionnaires directly to homes for the first time in the decennial count’s history.